The state president of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) state President Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal landed in a controversy on Sunday over his recent statement on protests against the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. Thangal said that there was no need for such protests as both the new temple and the proposed mosque would strengthen secularism in the country.
A major ally of the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, the IUML is an influential political party among the Muslim community.
The video of Thangal’s statement that went viral today was from an event on January 24 at Manjeri near Malappuram.
Addressing the event at Manjeri, Thangal had said that the Ram temple which is “worshipped and revered by the majority of the people” in the country is a “reality”.
“We cannot go back from that. There is no need for us to protest against it. The temple came up based on a court order and the Babri Masjid is about to be constructed. These two are now part of India. The Ram temple and the proposed Babri Masjid are two best examples that strengthen the secularism of our country,” Thangal said in the video.
IUML, from the seven districts north of Kochi, compared to a meagre seven of Congress, its big brother in UDF has 15 Assembly seats and the Panakkad Thangals, who as a family headed the party in the state for more than seven decades remain highly respected as religious and political leaders amongst the Muslims of Kerala.
While the Indian National League (INL), a coalition partner of the ruling CPI(M) led LDF government in Kerala lashed out at the IUML leader, the Congress party and the IUML defended Thangal and said he was trying to prevent any campaign of hatred and attempts to divide society. Political rivals in the Muslim community went on to say that ‘the IUML head had echoed the RSS language’.
“We cannot go back from that. There is no need for us to protest against it. The temple came up based on a court order and the Babri Masjid is about to be constructed. These two are now part of India. The Ram temple and the proposed Babri Masjid are two best examples that strengthen secularism of our country,” Thangal was heard saying in the video.
”We know that it (Babri Masjid) was destroyed by the karsevaks and we had protested against it at that time,” he said, adding that Indian Muslims dealt with it in a mature manner.
Indian National League (INL) Kerala State Secretariat Member N K Abdul Azeez in a Facebook post said that political leaders are not ignorant of the fact that Gandhi’s Ram Rajya is different from the Ram Rajya of the RSS.
”The spiritual Hindu religion of a believer is different from the political Hindutva of the RSS and the political leaders are not ignorant of this fact. Yet they are making a fool of its ranks. It’s not possible to believe that the ordinary party workers of IUML will accept this position,” Azeez said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and senior IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty came out in support of Thangal and said his words were misinterpreted.
Kunhalikutty said BJP is trying to politicise the Ayodhya issue and Thangal was trying to warn people not to fall into that trap. ”But it was misinterpreted,” he said.
Satheesan said while many were trying to ignite tensions needlessly, Thangal was trying to douse it.
”One should understand why he said so. When some are trying to set fire to water, Thangal is trying to douse it. He was speaking against the campaign of hatred and division,” Satheesan said.
(with PTI inputs)
Comments
0 comment